Though the D-backs saved about $4MM in the trade that sent Aaron Hill, Chase Anderson and Isan Diaz to the Brewers in exchange for Jean Segura and Tyler Wagner, GM Dave Stewart implied to MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert that further moves aren’t likely to be made. The D-backs “don’t have much going on” in terms of trade talks or free-agent pursuits at this point, Stewart said.
Gilbert writes that the cost of adding another arm to their bullpen mix seems to be too great. That’s not to say that they don’t have the money to spend, but rather that given the asking prices around the market and the in-house options on the roster, the D-backs don’t see a deal worth pursuing. “It’s not tight. It’s either you want the player or you don’t,” Stewart told Gilbert.
Gilbert writes that Brad Ziegler, Daniel Hudson, Andrew Chafin and Randall Delgado all profile to land bullpen jobs, and Stewart listed a wide number of internal options that intrigue him, including Silvino Bracho, Enrique Burgos, Jake Barrett, Cody Hall, Dominic Leone, Evan Marshall, Sam LeCure and Wesley Wright. Certainly, there’s reason to believe that the names listed could yield three bullpen pieces for the Snakes, and there are always names that pop up unexpectedly during Spring Training either on the waiver wire or in free agency. Additionally, some within the organization will probably emerge as surprise bullpen candidates as well.
It would seem, then, that the money saved in the Hill trade may instead go toward in-season flexibility. While some fans may find that frustrating as they wish for immediate reallocation of those funds, there are a few factors to keep in mind. Firstly, while Arizona’s Opening Day payroll should be a bit north of the team’s marks from 2015 ($88MM) and 2013 ($86MM), it should also come in well shy of 2014’s record $112MM Opening Day payroll. It should also be noted that the D-backs signed a $1.5 billion television contract last February, and the increased rights fees from that deal kick in this season. While the increase over the club’s previous television revenue will be incremental in nature, the D-backs should have some degree of increased spending capacity. All of this is to say that while further additions don’t seem likely for the time being, based on Stewart’s comments anyway, the club certainly looks poised to have a good bit of financial flexibility for summer upgrades on the trade market, even if they require adding payroll.
Teams should never be in a rush to spend every single dollar they have in the offseason. Its smart to keep a few million for in season moves when you can more accurately determine needs a team may have rather than blow all your cap space in the winter and be stuck with minimal room (or having to ask the owner[s] for more money to make moves). Obviously the hope is that your offseason signings eliminate any major concerns a team may have and trade deadline deals are more to address depth issues/injury to major player[s] but we all know its very unlikely a team doesn’t need to make a move or two in the summer in order to make a serious playoff push.
I know it’s not the popular opinion right now, but it seems pretty realistic to me that the D-Backs will finish below .500 this year. The Shelby Miller trade hurt them tremendously in the long term without making them any better in 2016, considering they’ll be losing a few wins on paper by swapping out Inciarte with Tomas. Greinke adds a few wins on paper, but obviously won’t replicate his unreal 2015, and even those could be lost if Goldschmidt, Pollock, and/or Peralta miss time or otherwise don’t match their levels of production last year. Their bullpen still looks bad, and Ziegler probably won’t be as good with his miserable strikeout rate. Segura doesn’t add much if anything. This team just doesn’t stand out as being more than a win or two better than their 79-83 finish last year.
The Dbacks starting rotation is miles ahead of the 2015 version. Greinke, Corbin, Miller, Ray and Bradley are miles ahead of last years crew. I mean, Collmenter was the top starter. He’s not even in the rotation now.
Let’s say the rotation is middling. The relief should at least be middle of the road, too. Add this to one of the best offenses and defenses in baseball and they should at least challenge for the wildcard, if not the division.
In other words, unless everything goes wrong (injury and whatnot that can happen to any team), the Dbacks should be one of the most improved teams in all of baseball. Adding 5 starting pitchers (2 added this summer, 1 returning from Tommy John and 2 from their system) to the top of the rotation will vastly improve a team.
Miller and Greinke both pitched over their heads last year and are moving from pitcher parks to hitter parks. Greinke should be fine, but Miller is going to suffer, and again, he wasn’t that good to begin with.
Obviously you’ve never seen Shelby Miller pitch, at times last year he pitched like the best pitcher in baseball. However he does need to work on consistency and command but saying he isn’t that good to begin with is just wrong
When Edwin Jackson was on looked liked the best pitcher in baseball during stretches too.
Comparing Shelby Miller to Edwin Jackson is just wrong..
Greinke,Miller,Corbin,Ray,Bradley-Collmenter,DeLaRosa,Hellcikson,Anderson,Bradley and you think they are 1-2 games better? Socrates Brito and Pete O’brien pushed an overrrated Inciarte out of town. Segura doesn’t even have to be a starter to be an improvement over Aaron Hill. While they were not able to land the closer that they wanted a full yesr of Hudson, the addition of DeLaRosa to the pen and their fututre closer Bracho should be much improved. Not to mention a full year of Welington Castillo rather than any Gosewich is an improvement.
There is one big problem with your analysis. Games are not played on paper. Yes, Inciarte had a better WAR than Tomas in 2015, but the season that is about to be played is 2016, not 2015. At this point, Inciatre could be a fluke and Tomas may have required a season to adjust to US pitching. You never know and neither does anyone else.
As much as it pains me to say anything nice about Arizona, I applaud the Diamondbacks for at least doing something other than waiting around and hoping to get better in the future or worse just seemingly not having a plan like my team. BTW, in the future, the Dodgers and Giants are still going to have a lot more money than the rest of the West to spend, so what exactly are people waiting for?
I accept that, which is why I used the words “on paper” twice. They could win 88 games, or they could win 72, who knows. That’s why they play the whole season. But let me ask you this – if Arizona had kept Inciarte and Swanson and signed Mike Leake for that below-market deal he was reportedly willing to accept from Arizona instead of trading for Miller, wouldn’t they be better off? Just my two cents, I’m not pretending to be a genius.
While I agree that everything about them screams “potential flop” on paper (like everyone who sweated SD and Seattle last year) they are remarkably better than last year. Only problem is that the Giants are way better too and the Dodgers are still really good. Can they beat both those teams? No one can answer that definitively at this point
I think they are definitely a postseason contender at this point, but to say sub-.500, nope, not happening. That rotation and defense is really, really good. The other factors you mention like swapping Inciarte for Tomas full time are such a wild variable it’s pretty ridiculous to bring up.
All this being said, Stewart has done a terrible job this offseason and should be fired no matter how many wins the team has. They brutalized their future WS title ceiling for a current first round playoff exit.
If the Dbacks did nothing other than sign mike leake,,,,that would be a massive let down. Swanson is not MLB ready yet so in 2016 he would not add anything, Brito looks to replace Inciarte in addition to Tomas making him an extra OF with trade value. Greinke, Corbin, Miller, Ray and Bradley/RDLR/Godley makes this team (on paper…and in reality) much better than last year. Mike Leake is good but adding another 3/4 SP to a large group of 3/4 SPs doesnt add much in terms of improvement.
You seem to be pointing to a worst case scenario type of approach in terms of health and production.
They won 78 games last year with a rotation of Ray, De la rosa, Anderson, Collmenter, Hellickson, *insert 5th starters they burned through here* and half a year of Corbin.
Now they will have the majority of their offensive core return minus Inciarte and Hill, with a rotation of Greinke-Miller-Full year of Corbin-Ray-&RDL/Bradley.
The OF situation is interesting, there’s a name to look out for in Socrates Brito, not only does he have a sweet name, but he has real potential to be an even better version of Inciarte. The organization is really high on him. If Tomas continues to struggle he’ll likely take that starting RF spot and run with it. If not, they have themselves a really good 4th OF. Pollock and Peralta are studs.
The bullpen was overworked last year with that awful rotation as you can imagine. They may not have a ton of household names but guys like Andrew Chafin, Silviano Bracho, Randall Delgado, Daniel Hudson, Josh Collmenter, and Brad Ziegler are all certainly serviceable, and with more rest this season with a top 10 rotation in the game they should improve. I’d still like to add a late inning arm, however.
I agree, D-Backs seem like the 2016 Padres. Winners of the offseason, bad in the regular season.
I see them winning 85 this year… I love the Segura addition. He needed a change of scenery. Obviously hated the Miller trade. There rotation looks really good. Grienke, Miller, Corbin, Bradley are all 1 or 2s on any staff. Bullpen looks shaky and they should improve. All in all, they look tons better than last year.
How does adding Shelby miller make a team worse?
It doesn’t, but people like to think they are smarter than GMs. Just like the James Shields trade absolutely ruined the Royals chances of competing both in the short-term and especially in the long-term. Most people thought Dayton Moore should be fired 20 seconds after that deal was announced. Two World Series appearances in a row makes it seem like the lifelong baseball man knew more about his team than internet commenters.
I still think Dayton Moore should be fired though. His teams are winning in spite of him at this point. Same with Sabean and the Giants. SF signed a washed up Zito for $126M 10 years ago!
Underneath that Shields trade though, even if they gave up Odirizzi (right? They gave up some pitching prospect) they still got Wade Davis back. And if anything, having Shields gave KC at least some confidence they could contend two years ago, which led them to make the moves to win last year.
It doesn’t.
I’m not sure AZ is done trading, their farm isn’t 100% gutted yet. They still should trade Bradley, Shipley, Lopez & Drury for like, Andre Ethier or something. I use that example not because its fair or makes sense, it’s because that’s how bad Dave Stewart is at his job and how badly he’s been robbed in just about every trade he’s made this offseason..
Why would they do that when they don’t need him, Bradley is supposed to be in their rotation for years to come, that kind of trade doesn’t make sense
Thats exactly why they would do it.
They’ve dealt three total prospects this offseason. Three.
In return they’ve received Shelby Miller and Jean Segura.
Keep letting the media tell you how great Dansby Swanson is though, he’s only the worst 1st overall pick in the last decade according to scouts when AZ first took him. Now that they traded him everyone thinks he’s the next Tulo. It’s humorous.